Posts from Tuesday Jun 11 2013

Joseph joined FT Alphaville way back in March 2010. He likes all the politically and legally fiddly bits of finance. He also likes credit, rates, global macro, tail risk, and all that stuff. (You should email him story ideas. He’ll take anything.)

Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Michael Hanson and team note on Tuesday that while the world and its dog obsess about an upcoming QE exit, things continue to look pretty bleak on the money multiplier side of things. Read more

From the SEC’s order setting out a $6m fine in a settlement with the Chicago Board Options Exchange, over some serious failings relating to this probe of an online broker’s obligations under Regulation SHO (on short-selling)…

Self-regulation is a unique and fundamental component of federal securities regulation in the United States…

Courtesy of Bloomberg, a fine addition to FT Alphaville’s ongoing coverage of the “collateralise everything” trend:

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) accepted almost 15,000 bottles of fine wine as loan collateral from a former high-ranking executive, according to a regulatory filing last month. Andrew Cader, a former senior director at Goldman Sachs’s specialist-trading unit, pledged a secured interest in the wines, which are primarily from the Burgundy and Bordeaux regions of France, the filing showed.Read more

The International Monetary Fund’s “ex post evaluation” of its involvement in the Greek bailout continues to generate debate over the weaknesses revealed. Gabriel Sterne, a senior economist at Exotix with two decades of public sector experience including at the IMF, argues that the issues for the fund go much deeper.

Cardiff writes mostly about US macroeconomic issues, with daily excursions into other topics about which he claim no expertise. Before Alphaville, Cardiff spent a little more than two years as a reporter at Dow Jones Financial News covering investment banking, asset management, and private equity. Along the way he has written freelance pieces on a variety of other topics from behavioural psychology to Muay Thai, the latter also being a personal interest that involves frequently getting kicked in the shins (and torso, and head).

Report urging bank shares handout ‘well researched’ says Treasury: “A report urging George Osborne to hand out shares in Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds to the public was described by the Treasury as “quite robust and well researched”. Mr Osborne is expected to set out his ambition to return the two banks to the private sector next week, with the Treasury eyeing a possible start of that process with a disposal of 10 per cent of Lloyds shares this year.” (Financial Times)

Better news on economy boosts house sales, says Rics survey: “The number of homes sold in the UK has soared to its highest level in three and a half years over the past quarter, according to a property survey. The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors said on Tuesday that home sales rose to their highest level since January 2010 in the three months to May on the back of better news on the British economy.” (Financial Times) Read more